Exodus Rewrite
by Servali
Summary: I always wondered what the ThunderCats series would have been like if Grune had not turned against the Code. Well, after long years of wondering, I finally decided to re-write the first episode, Exodus, with that scenario in mind.


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**Exodus  
Original transcript by Cheezey  
Re-writes and additions by Servali**

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**Rated PG**

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**Part One**

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**A large spaceship sped away from a planet in the grips of destructive forces. There were explosions on the surface and terrible earthquakes as the planet fell apart. In the ship flying away, there were several naked humanoid cat-like creatures: a male tiger named Tygra, a male panther named Panthro, a female cheetah named Cheetara, and two kids of an undiscernible feline identity, twins, one male and one female, named WilyKit and WilyKat. There was also an burly male cat, wearing fearsome armour yet no helmet, and a stripe of grey running down the centre of his mane. He stood nearly motionless as everyone watched the telescreen.  
  
"It's finished." Panthro told the others.   
  
The armoured one nodded silently at Panthro's words.   
  
"Shall I awaken Lion-O now?" Tygra asked.  
  
Cheetara looked at the others. "No need to upset the--"  
  
"No, wake him," the armoured one interrupted. "If he's going to rule, he needs to learn to take the bad with the good! Cheetara, you go and bring him here."  
  
Cheetara nodded and obediently headed to Lion-O's room.  
  
Meanwhile, across the ship, a young red-maned lion was asleep in his bed. Cheetara walked in and shook him gently to wake him up. "Lion-O," she whispered, leaning over him closely.   
  
The young lion shook his head. "What? Oh, Cheetara..."   
  
"I am so sorry to wake you Lion-O, but Grune bids me bring you to him," she told him with a warm smile.   
  
Lion-O climbed out of bed. "Uh, ok. Sure, Cheetara."   
  
A small red and yellow cat-like creature named Snarf was laying at the foot of the bed. When Lion-O got up from the bed, Snarf immediately woke up and growled fiercely, ready to pounce. Then, his eyes focused upon the cheetah woman standing next to Lion-O. "Oh, it's you, Cheetara," he realised. "So, what`s so important that you needed to wake up Lion-O, and why didn`t you wake me first?"   
  
"Grune told me to," Cheetara told Snarf with a hint of a smile, "and--"  
  
"Grune?" Snarf interrupted with curiosity evident upon his furry face. He cocked his head at the mention of Grune's name.  
  
"Yes," Cheetara nodded solemnly. "He requested Lion-O's presence out on the flight deck."  
  
"Well… you still should have woken me up first," he complained, "and I hope you don`t mind my tagging along. If you do, tough. Now, let`s go see what Grune wants with Lion-O."  
  
Cheetara grinned and sighed at Snarf before leading Lion-O through the doorway.  
  
Snarf tossed Cheetara a hint of a scowl, albeit not a serious one. "Don't sigh at me," Snarf said with mock bitterness. "I'm just doing my job. After all, I'm his guardian. You know, be at his side at all times, know what he's up to at all times."  
  
"Aw, Snarf." Lion-O complained. "I'm practically grown up! I don`t need to be protected like that anymore."  
  
"Sorry, Lion-O," Snarf said, shaking his head. "That's the job Grune gave me, and that's the job I'm going to do until he tells me otherwise, even if it means watching over you until you`re as old as I am now."  
  
"I hope not," Lion-O pouted. "I'll *never* get to do anything fun that way."  
  
"Perhaps you *could* tone your protectiveness down a little," Cheetara said with amusement as she and Lion-O walked through the doorway.   
  
"Yeah, right," Snarf complained again. "You're not responsible for Lion-O's welfare. I am, shnyarf, shnyarf. That cub has a knack for wandering right into trouble when you least expect it. He'd somehow get in a scuffle with a bunch of Mutants when my back's turned. What'll happen? I'll get the blame for it, even after I mow those Mutants down before they even have a chance to harm one hair on Lion-O`s head! That's what!" Snarf promptly followed the two out the door, staying close to Lion-O the whole time.   
  
All the Thundercats were present on the flight deck as Lion-O came in with Cheetara and Snarf. Lion-O walked over to Grune. "What's up, Grune?" he asked.   
  
Grune remained silent as he set his eyes upon the heir to the throne of Thundera. What would be left of it, anyway. He merely pointed to the telescreen.   
  
"What's on the screen?" Lion-O asked. The image of a planet appeared on the monitor. "That planet? What's happening to it?" he asked. The planet then exploded violently. "What was that?" Lion-O asked Grune.   
  
"Thundera," Grune simply said with a mix of sorrow, remorse and anger.  
  
The monitor showed fiery rocks floating around space. Lion-O cast Grune a horrified look. "Thundera? But… but…."   
  
Grune sighed deeply, readying himself to prepare Lion-O for his future. "Thundera's no more, Lion-O, but the Code of Thundera will live on with you, the Lord of the ThunderCats. You have a sacred duty to uphold the Code's ideals-- Truth, Justice, Honour and Loyalty-- on our new home, wherever that'll be."   
  
"I will, Grune! I swear it!" Lion-O declared enthusiastically. "I mean, I'll try…," he added with waning confidence.   
  
Grune nodded. "I know you will. It's an enormous responsibility for one as young as you, but you aren't alone. The nobles you see gathered here: Panthro, Cheetara…," Lion-O looked at each noble's face as Grune said their names. Cheetara winked at him as he looked at her. "Tygra, and even," Grune grinned slightly, "WilyKit and WilyKat will teach you what you need to know to rule properly."   
  
Snarf looked up, annoyed. "Hmph! Not a single mention of a certain snarf, I notice, shnyarf, shnyarf," he complained to those gathered. "Go on, just take all the glory, and leave ol' Snarf to soften up the enemy before you finish them off and get your names written in all the history books. I won't mind. Nope, not one bit." Snarf folded his arms and looked away from the others, his nose up in the air.  
  
"No, we definitely can't forget about you, Snarf," Grune admitted with a snort of amusement. "My humblest apologies," Grune said as he bowed in an exaggerated manner.  
  
"Oh, stop with the acting already," Snarf grinned as he noticed Grune`s display. He shook his head and rolled his eyes at the sight. "Formalities like that never suited you well."  
  
Grune permitted himself a brief, quiet chuckle. "You know me too well, Snarf. I might have to do something about that."  
  
"Like what?" Snarf nearly laughed. "Smarm me to death?"  
  
Grune nearly laughed himself. "All things are possible, if given the chance. At least, that's what Jaga used to say."  
  
Snarf couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes again at the sabre-tooth throwback. Lion-O gave Grune a questioning look, but Grune shook his head. "Later," he merely said before leading Lion-O towards a door. Once there, Grune resumed an air of seriousness. "There's one more thing you need to see, Lion-O. The greatest part of your heritage." Grune led Lion-O through a sliding door and pointed to a sword bathed in a beautiful light on a holder. "This is the Sword of Omens. Set inside it is the source of our power, the Eye of Thundera."  
  
Lion-O walked over to the sword, and the Eye pulsed with power. He picked it up, swung it around, and nearly dropped it as the sword seemingly moved on its own. "Grune! The sword is alive!"   
  
Grune quietly nodded.   
  
"But there are holes in the hilt, Grune, and I don't see any eye," Lion-O said, confused.   
  
"The Eye sleeps until it's needed," Grune informed him, "and those aren't just any holes you`re looking at, Lion-O. If you look through them and ask for its power, you'll be granted sight beyond sight."  
  
"Sight beyond sight?" Lion-O repeated curiously. "What's that?"  
  
"In time, Lion-O, you`ll see," was Grune's response.  
  
"But if I do need the Eye, how can I wake it up and let it know?"  
  
"No need. It'll know before you do."   
  
Lion-O shrugged, not quite sure what to make of what Grune said. He looked to the sword, and he grunted and struggled with it. "It's so heavy. I can't even lift it."   
  
Grune nodded. "No, you`re not yet strong enough to wield it. But--" Grune then turned to Snarf. "Snarf, go fetch the others."   
  
"Aw, blast it," Snarf yawned mockingly, "just when this was getting interesting." Snarf then casually turned and left the chamber.  
  
Grune returned his attention to Lion-O. "But, Lion-O, it won't be long before it feels like a part of you. When that happens, you`ll be a force to reckon with." Grune grinned slightly. "Perhaps more of a force than Grune the Mighty himself."  
  
Lion-O blushed. "Aw, I don't think I'll ever be as good as you."  
  
Grune set a firm hand upon Lion-O's shoulder. "No. You'll be better," he admitted his hope quietly.  
  
Lion-O was about to protest the likelihood of that happening when the ThunderCats finally entered the room.  
  
"You wish to see us, Grune?" Tygra asked.   
  
Grune nodded. "The way we used to live, that's gone now. You'll all need to learn new ways, just like Lion-O is here right now," he declared as he patted Lion-O on the shoulder. "On Thundera, you didn't need protective clothing or special weapons, and the Eye of Thundera rested in the Sword of Omens, known and protected only by me, Jaga, and Leonira."  
  
"My mom and Jaga knew about the Sword of Omens, too?" Lion-O asked with surprise.  
  
Grune nodded again, permitting himself a slight grin. "Yes, they did. Especially Jaga. He made it."  
  
"Wow," Lion-O said in awe, "I wish I could've met Jaga. He was a great warrior, I hear."  
  
Grune chuckled. "And your mother and I weren't?" he teased.  
  
Lion-O grew a bit embarrassed, despite the fact that he knew Grune was fooling around again. "Well, I didn't mean it like that. It's just… I didn't get to know Jaga."  
  
"I doubt you would have liked him much. He was a bit… smarmy," Grune said with a wider grin.   
  
Lion-O gave everyone confused glances. "Smarmy? What`s that mean?"  
  
Snarf laughed, remembering Jaga`s preachiness quite well. "Don't ask, Lion-O. You don't want to know."  
  
Grune smiled at the cub and ruffled his mane fiercely.  
  
"Hey, cut it out," Lion-O protested, playfully swatting Grune's hand away. "You make my hair feel all funny doing that."  
  
"All right, I'll stop… for now." Grune looked to the others, who were all grinning, save Snarf, who was rolling his eyes once again.   
Grune, now serious, continued his speech. "We don't know what's going to happen to us at our new home, but I *do* know how the Eye can help you fare better there." Grune turned to Lion-O, his hand extended. "The sword."  
  
Without a word, Lion-O handed Grune the Sword of Omens.   
  
Grune smiled as he took the sword from Lion-O, and he held it high into the air. "Ho!" he called out mightily, and the Eye awoke. The Sword of Omens extended, and the chamber was awash in the light of the signal from the Eye of Thundera. Lion-O and the others watched in awe as they began to glow, too. When the display was finished, each of the ThunderCats-- Snarf included-- was equipped with clothing and weaponry of some sort. Cheetara found herself wrapped within a form-fitting leotard, and a bo staff in hand. Tygra wore a light and dark blue jumpsuit, and a whip was found by his side. Panthro was outfitted with spiked suspenders, and he held nunchakus, one end in each hand. Snarf, too was outfitted with suspenders that formed an X over his chest. Upon his tail was a spiked metal band, and upon the backs of his hands were metal claws that extended when he bent his wrists. WilyKit found herself in a skirt-like outfit, while WilyKat was covered within a tunic. Each twin had pouches of pellets attached to their newly acquired belts. Lion-O looked upon himself, and found that even he was clothed in a blue, sleeveless shirt.  
  
"Wow…," Lion-O and the ThunderKittens said simultaneously, awed as they were by the power of the sword. Lion-O was so awed, that he didn't even notice that he had no weapon of his own.  
  
"Amazing," Tygra stated.  
  
Cheetara nodded in agreement as she examined her new weapon.  
  
"Shnee-yarf! Now *these* are weapons worthy of a snarfin guardian," Snarf gleefully declared has he tried out his new *toys* by practicing some moves upon an imaginary target. "Watch out, everyone! Snarf the Fierce is on the loose."  
  
"You'll have to make room for Panthro the Deadly," Panthro said humorously to Snarf as he swung around his nunchakus, "because I'm not going to let you have all the fun, *old-timer*."  
  
Snarf laughed at Panthro. "Oh, yeah? Well, we'll see about that. I might be old, but I'll bet you one hundred-- no, one *thousand* Thunder-dollars you won`t last ten seconds with me, *especially* now," he boasted confidently.  
  
"You're on," Panthro chuckled.  
  
Grune smiled at the two, glad that their joking around was distracting everyone from the fate of Thundera. "That's something I wouldn`t want to miss." Grune then handed the sword back to Lion-O, who was still too awestruck to say anything. Lion-O merely stared at it as he held it once again.  
  
Suddenly they were interrupted by an ear-splitting alarm.   
  
"Grune! We're being attacked!" Tygra announced.  
  
Grune turned to Lion-O. "Remain here in the sword chamber!" he commanded as he began to run out.   
  
"No!" Lion-O protested. "If there's to be fighting then I should--"   
  
"No arguing!" Grune growled back. "Snarf, you keep him here and look after him!" He then ran out after the others.   
  
Snarf nodded his compliance to Grune's demands and stood in front of Lion-O. "I`d just like to see someone try to get past me now! You`re safer than ever before, Lion-O."   
  
Lion-O frowned. "Aww! I don't want to be safe! Safe is boring!" he whined.  
  
Snarf scowled at Lion-O. "R-r-r-r-r… Yeah, well, safe might be boring, but dead's dead, and I'm not about to see that happen to you, got it?"  
  
Lion-O nodded, but his pride was still hurt. He was a ThunderCat, wasn`t he? Shouldn't he be helping the others? He walked to the nearest corner, hefting the sword along with him, and sulked. He thought about kicking the sword stand, but he didn't feel like getting any more verbal lashings from Snarf.  
  
Grune arrived on the flight deck, put on his helmet and turned to the others. "Who dares attack us?"   
  
"Mutants," Tygra replied.   
  
"Wretched, cowardly vermin!" Grune roared as he slammed a fist onto the console. "Of course they'd attack us now, in our darkests of times!"  
  
WilyKit and WilyKat backed away from the angered sabre-tooth, not wishing to get on his bad side, which, they felt, was *any* side of him now. Then everyone then grew quiet, watched the telescreen, and prepared for the inevitable….**

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**Outside the ship, several smaller ships swarmed around the Thundercats' ship fleet and fired upon it. On the main enemy battleship, a jackal mutant, a simian mutant, a vulture mutant, and a rat mutant were gathered.   
  
"Nyeh-heh-heh, direct hit, Ratar-O!" Jackalman announced, watching the battle from a window.   
  
"Excellent!" the ratman commander replied from his chair. "Soon, we'll be rid of those pesky ThunderCats forever, *and* we'll steal from them the greatest treasure of all: the Eye of Thundera!"**

**The gathering of mutants laughed with evil glee as they continued their assault upon the fleeing Thunderian ships.**

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**Back on the deck of the Thundercats' ship, the ThunderCats were monitoring the battle.   
  
"We just lost one, Grune," Panthro said as one of their fleet exploded.   
  
Grune grabbed the nearest communicator. "Flagship to convoy! Defensive formations! NOW!" he bellowed.   
  
The Thunderian ships manoeuvred and flocked around the flagship. The flagship fired on the mutant ships and blew a few of them up, while the mutants returned fire and destroyed all but one of the Thunderian ships: the flagship.  
  
"We've lost them, Grune! We've lost all the ships!" Panthro reported angrily.   
  
"Except for ours," Cheetara noted. "We haven't taken a single hit."   
  
Grune shook his head. "I know why."  
  
Puzzled, Lion-O looked to Grune. "Why?"  
  
"They're after the Eye of Thundera, and they know it's here."   
  
"Then…," WilyKat started, worry evident in his expression.   
  
"Yes," Tygra said, completing WilyKat's thought, "we can expect visitors at any moment."  
  
The ship then shook violently, rocking the occupants of the flagship.   
  
"What's that?" Cheetara asked.  
  
"Tractor beam rays!" Panthro shouted.  
  
Beams of blue light encircled the flagship and drew it next to one of the mutant ships. Frightened, Lion-O looked around, trying to make sense of what was happening.  
  
"No need to be afraid," Snarf said, attempting to console Lion-O. "I won't let one single Mutant who wants to get at you get past me. I swear it."   
  
"I'm not **gulp** afraid." Lion-O said.  
  
"Good," Snarf said with a nod as he assumed a battle-ready stance, "because fear is a worse enemy than any mutant out there. Trust me."  
  
To that, Lion-O merely nodded.  
  
An airlock moved from the mutant ship against the side of the flagship, and a reptile mutant came through, and fired a laser through the ThunderCat insignia painted on the wall, making a hole for them to enter through.   
  
Inside a ship, an alarm sounded. Tygra and Grune looked up while Panthro tapped at the controls. "We've been breached!"   
  
"Prepare to repel boarders!" Tygra ordered.   
  
"Right in front of you, Tygra!" Cheetara answered, and sped ahead of him with her super speed. She met up with some reptillians, and ran circles around them with a rope, ensnaring them in it.  
  
Meanwhile, Tygra combated two monkians. He lashed his whip around himself and became invisible.  
  
"Where'd he go?" one of the monkians asked.   
  
"Now you don't see me…," Tygra's voice sounded, and he suddenly reappeared, jumping on them. "Now you do!" he exclaimed, giving them a sound beating.  
  
Panthro was busy fighting mutants as well. He flipped through the air and landed in the middle of four jackalmen. One whipped a mace at him, but Panthro stopped it with his hands and crushed it. "If you were as mean as you are ugly, then maybe you'd be trouble." he said with a laugh.  
  
The ThunderKittens were backed into a corner by reptile mutants. They ran at the kittens, who tossed pellets at them. The pellets exploded in an array of blinding flashes, and when the reptiles could see again, the kittens were gone.   
  
In another part of the ship, some of the mutants were busy rummaging through things, searching for the Eye of Thundera. Jackalman walked through a door and met up with Ratar-O and Vultureman. "Nothing there. Any luck at your end, Ratar-O?" he asked.   
  
"No." Ratar-O said with growing frustration. "What's in there?" he asked, pointing at a door.  
  
"Caaaw, let's find out," Vultureman said as he approached it.  
  
"It would help if I knew what the Eye of Thundera looks like," Jackalman admitted. "Have you ever seen it?"  
  
"Only in pictures and holo-projections," Vultureman admitted smugly.  
  
"I have," Ratar-O darkly replied, "It's embedded within a sword, and if it weren't for that freak of a furball, Grune, I would have easily torn it from Jaga's corpse and claimed it as my own. Now, let's stop wasting time and see what's behind that door."  
  
They walked into the room holding the Sword of Omens, Lion-O, and Snarf, and the Eye of Thundera pulsed in warning.   
  
Lion-O held the Sword of Omens in a defensive stance, and Snarf was growling angrily as he lashed out with his tail.  
  
"And there it is, embedded in the Sword of Omens like I said!" Ratar-O announced.   
  
"You'd all better get out of here right now, or you'll have Snarf the Fierce to deal with!" Snarf warned.   
  
"And what manner of laughable creature is this?" Ratar-O scoffed.   
  
Snarf was quite offended. "Think I'm funny, do ya?"   
  
"Snarf! Stop!" Lion-O said worriedly.   
  
Jackalman shot his gun at Snarf, ensnaring him in a net. Snarf struggled, but to no avail. Then, Snarf remembered the blades upon his hands. He flexed his wrists, and the blades popped out with metallic "thwips". He easily tore through the net. "So, you Mutants want a piece of ol' Snarf, do you? Well, I hope you have some good medics, because you're going to need them to piece you all back together when I'm done with you!" Snarf approached menacingly, and Jackalman, intimidated, stumbled and fell backwards.  
  
"Help me, nyeh-heh-heh!" Jackalman cried out pathetically as he tried to crawl away. "Save me from that.. that… What is that thing?"  
  
"Toast," Vultureman shouted with glee as he blasted at Snarf with a gun of his own. The beam spread out, so that despite Snarf's attempt to dodge, he was still struck by the beam. He was thrust violently against the far wall, and the impact knocked him unconscious. He slid down the wall and fell into a heap, his fur slightly singed and smoking.  
  
"Snarf! No!" Lion-O cried out.  
  
Jackalman, feeling safer now, got up on his feet and rejoined the others. Vultureman glared at him for his cowardice. His head turned away from Vultureman, Jackalman snorted in aggravation. "I'd like to see how *you'd* act when you're being attacked by that… whatever it was," Jackalman grumbled to himself.  
  
Ratar-O laughed as he turned to Lion-O. "So much for that pathetic creature. Now, youth, hand over that sword!"   
  
"You shall not have it while I live." Lion-O decreed with bravado.   
  
All three mutants laughed heartily. "The cub threatens *us*? Why, he can hardly hold onto that sword, much less lift it!" Jackalman exclaimed.  
  
Vultureman approached the cub, and Lion-O stepped away.  
  
"Stay away, or, or, or you'll get it!" Lion-O warned, trying his best to point the sword at the vile-looking avian, albeit not too successfully.  
  
Vultureman cawed in laughter as he continued his slow, threatening approach. "No need to be scared, brat. Just hand over the sword, and we`ll just leave--"  
  
"I'm not scared!" Lion-O protested, despite the fact that he *was* frightened. However, he remembered Snarf's words, about how fear can be a worse enemy than any mutant. Lion-O then gathered up all his resolve, and he stepped forward, again trying to point the sword at Vultureman. "And I said, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE IT," he added with more confidence. Suddenly, the Eye of Thundera pulsed, and Lion-O's eyes glowed yellow with power. He swung the sword high, and the Eye opened and projected the ThunderCat signal upon the wall.   
  
"What's happening?" Jackalman wondered fearfully as he began to back away from Lion-O. Vultureman was shying away from the sword-wielding cub as well.  
  
"Nothing *I* can't take care of, you spineless cowards," a confident Ratar-O said as he drew out his twin sais. "Now, let`s see if the Eye of Thundera is a match for the Rat`s Eyes."   
  
Lion-O swung the glowing sword above his head while the Mutants watched with interest. The sword was pulsing fiercely with power now. Suddenly, there was a mighty roar, and a large, ghostly black cat emerged from the Eye and pounced upon a surprised Ratar-O, knocking him off balance and onto the floor. It bounced off him and chased Vultureman and Jackalman around the chamber. The two mutants then fled out of the chamber as fast as they could.  
  
"Come back, cowards!" Ratar-O demanded with a shake of his fist as he stood once again, but the two mutants didn't obey. They kept running. The ghostly feline then focused its attention back upon Ratar-O. It emitted yet another powerful growl, and it's eyes flashed red. Even with his Rat`s Eyes, Ratar-O didn`t want to tangle with this… feline apparition, not while aboard an enemy ship. "There'll be another time, ThunderBrat!" Ratar-O yelled, "and you`ll suffer greatly for this insult to me!" He then fled. All the mutants returned to their ship, and the ship sped away, leaving the flagship damaged in space, with a gaping hole in the side.   
  
In the sword chamber, the ghostly feline returned to the Eye of Thundera. After a few seconds of disbelief, Lion-O finally came to his senses. He ran over to the fallen Snarf and shook him, in the hopes of reviving him. "Snarf, are you all right? Come on Snarf. Say something!"   
  
Snarf slowly woke up. "Shnee-yarf…," he mumbled almost unintelligibly. He looked up to Lion-O with unfocused eyes.  
  
"Good old Snarf." Lion-O said as he hugged him. "You scared me. I wasn't sure what happened to you."  
  
"What hit me?" Snarf finally asked as he slowly stood once Lion-O let go of him. "Felt like I was smacked around with a flaming meteor or something," he admitted as he patted himself down.  
  
Grune and the other ThunderCats finally rushed in, fearing the worst. **

**"Lion-O! Snarf!" Grune exclaimed. "Are you two all right?".   
  
"Yeah, Snarf took a few lumps, but I managed to hold 'em off." Lion-O answered.   
  
"Looks like you managed to drive them off with the sword," Grune said with a relieved grin, and the sword pulsed with power once again.   
  
Lion-O grinned sheepishly. "Well the sword kind of did it for me.…"   
  
Everyone else laughed, except for Snarf. "Ah, I see. Still, well done. You`ll be a fine warrior yet," Grune complimented. Lion-O blushed at Grune's words. Grune then turned around to the others, his look of relief fading into one of growing concern. "We have other matters to attend to, now that the mutants are gone. To the bridge, all of us." Everyone else nodded in compliance and followed Grune out of the chamber.  
  
A little while later, the ThunderCats were all gathered on the bridge of the ship. Grune turned to Panthro. "How bad?"   
  
Panthro turned around. "Well I patched up the hole and I guess it's ok."  
  
Grune looked at Panthro sternly. "You *guess*?"  
  
Panthro nodded, unfazed by Grune's stare. "There wasn't much to work with."  
  
Grune nodded in understanding. "Go on."  
  
Panthro turned to the consoles at the front of the bridge. "The navigational system's pretty well shot. We can manoeuvre some but not well enough to get to the galaxy we were headed for. The best we can do is this." He hit a button on the panel and pointed to the image on the monitor. "Not much as galaxies go."   
  
"It's dinky is what it is." WilyKat commented.  
  
"Hmph. Smaller than that, even," Snarf added, unimpressed.   
  
"See this puny little sun?" Panthro asked. "I've run a galactic scan for atmospheric compatibility and this blue planet"-- He pointed to an image of a planet labeled "3P" on the monitor-- "the third planet in, gives me a readout of 96%."   
  
Lion-O looked confused. "Atmo-spheric com... com.."   
  
Tygra smiled at the cub. "That means we can breathe the air, Lion-O."   
  
"Even so, it's light-years away." Cheetara said.   
  
"Oh, yeah," WilyKat agreed nervously. "I guess we'd have to make the trip in the suspension capsules."   
  
"And that`s exactly what I want you all to do now," Grune ordered. "Get in the suspension capsules. I'll pilot this ship to   
our new home."   
  
"No, Grune," Panthro argued. "Without suspension you'll die. We can set the ship on robot pilot."   
  
"This ship's still damaged," Grune pointed out. "It might not make it on auto. Manually piloting it is the only way to guarantee our safe arrival. That, and I refuse to hear of any one of you sacrificing your life to get us there. I summoned each of you to teach Lion-O to become a great ruler and leader, and that`s *exactly* what you`re going to do. My mind is set. I`m electing myself as the pilot."  
  
"We cannot be sure it won`t make it on auto. We'll take our chances together, Grune, as a team," Tygra said.  
  
"Yes, Grune, please!" Lion-O pleaded. "You're just as important as they are. Please, Grune, I don`t want to lose any--"  
  
"Oh, enough!" Snarf growled forcefully, garnering the attention of everyone around him. "No more of this blasted mushy stuff! I can't take it any more!" Snarf looked around to the others. "Look, I'm by far the oldest of us, and from what I've heard, we'll still age in the capsules, even though they slow it down a bit. Problem is, even in suspension, I doubt I'd live long enough to complete the journey. Now, get into those capsules, and that means you, too, Grune. "  
  
"But Snarf," Lion-O argued, "I thought you swore to protect me until, well… whenever." Lion-O looked on the verge of tears.   
  
Snarf walked solemnly over to Lion-O and squeezed his shoulder compassionately with his hand. "Remember what you said earlier, that you don't need to be so protected anymore? Well, after what happened in the sword chamber, I see you're right. You don't need me anymore. Besides, you have all of them to protect you now," Snarf said as he motioned to the other ThunderCats. Lion-O was about to complain, but Snarf pointed a finger at him. "Quiet. Not another word out of you. You get in there, and let good ol' Snarf take care of things."  
  
Lion-O looked up to Grune, hoping that there were something he could do to make Snarf change his mind, but Grune merely stared sadly at the cub. He could find no way to put it more gently. Then again, Grune wasn`t exactly one for gentleness. "It`s the truth, Lion-O. One way or another, he won't be with us when we arrive at our new home."  
  
Lion-O turned back to Snarf, tears now falling from his eyes. "I'm gonna miss you, Snarf."  
  
"Aw, Lion-O, stop it. You're getting all mushy on me, now," Snarf complained, but he had begun to cry as well. Snarf sniffed and grew aggravated. "Now look at what you're making me do."  
  
Lion-O rushed to Snarf and held him tightly. Snarf hugged Lion-O tightly in return. "It's gonna turn out all right. You'll see," Snarf said, trying to console Lion-O. "Now, get in that pod, before I throw you in there."  
  
Lion-O hesitated, and Grune patted Lion-O on the shoulder once again. "Be brave, Lion-O. You have to be now." Grune patted the Sword of Omens, which was now sheathed in the Claw Shield by his side. "The Eye of Thundera will be waiting for you when we get to our new home. Until then, it`ll be safe with me."   
  
Lion-O nodded sadly, and he slowly entered the capsule, but not before giving Snarf one last glance that said goodbye.  
  
WilyKat walked to his capsule, pressed the button to open it, and climbed in. "I wish Snarf wasn't so…. practical," he said sadly to his sister, who nodded.   
  
"All right, if we're going to do it, let's do it!" Panthro agreed, climbing into a pod of his own.  
  
All the other ThunderCats, except for Grune, bade Snarf goodbye, and Snarf did his best to dismiss each one as being silly. Grune was the last to enter the capsule. Before entering, though, he looked over to Snarf, who was standing a bit away from the capsules, his back turned to them. "You sure you want to go through with this?" he asked. "Not exactly the way for us warriors to go."  
  
Snarf looked back to Grune. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but let's face it. There's no other choice. Lion-O's going to need you more than he's going to need me, and I'm just not going to make it one way or another. Well, that, and being in tight spots gives me the creeps." Snarf shivered slightly at the thought of being cooped up in a capsule for who knew how long.  
  
Grune chuckled, but it couldn`t hide the sadness in his voice. "I'm going to miss you, old friend. We`ve battled a lot of Mutants together. It won't be the same without you."  
  
"Aw, don't *you* start getting all sappy now, too," Snarf complained, grinning. Then, Snarf grew serious. "Watch over him for me. Keep him from harm and all that nonsense."  
  
"I swear it, by the Code of Thundera," Grune responded with equal seriousness and a raised hand.  
  
"And… and…," Snarf stammered, growing frustrated again, "Aw, blast it! Tell Lion-O I love him, too, when you all wake up."  
  
Grune nodded. "May the Eye of Thundera protect you," he said as he entered his capsule.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, and right back at you, what you said," Snarf quietly replied with a grin. He looked at all of the ThunderCats, all of them now in their capsules in suspension. "Well, looks like I'm going to get plenty of peace and quiet, aren`t I?" Snarf sat in the pilot's chair, and he looked around at the console. "I sure do hope I don't screw things up. Mechanics was never my specialty. Wait, or is it electronics? Blast, I`ll be the death of us yet!" he joked to himself, trying to lighten his mood. He wasn't too successful. Snarf slumped into the chair and sighed as the ship flew through space towards its final destination. "Plenty of peace and quiet now. At least, there better be...."  
  
Snarf, greatly advanced in age now, weakly climbed up and collapsed into the chair in front of the control panel. "Looks like my time's finally come. That robot pilot better make it from here, else it's gonna have to reckon with one angry snarven ghost." Snarf closed his eyes, and his body vanished, leaving only his weapons upon the chair. The ship continued to fly through space, and it eventually landed on the tiny planet. The robot pilot began the landing sequence, but because it was damaged, the ship crash-landed and flew to pieces. The suspension pods were flung from the ship and scattered around the wreckage site. Only one pod popped open immediately. It was Lion-O's.  
  
And he was still young.**

* * *

**Part Two**

* * *

**Lion-O stirred and awoke. He sat up and looked to either side of him, wondering why he was sitting in a capsule. His memories were still a bit hazy. "Oh-- the suspension capsule," he realised, "but, what am I doing… here?" Lion-O looked around, scanning the world around him. It was all so different. So alien, yet so peaceful. Then, he heard a voice. A very familiar one.  
  
"Lion-O! Get out of that capsule! You're in trouble! You're all in trouble!"  
  
Lion-O's eyes grew wide upon realising to whom that familiar voice belonged. Lion-O immediately got out of the capsule and noticed…. "Snarf!" he shouted as he ran to him, to hug him, but he was quite surprised when he fell right through his guardian and landed on the ground behind him. Lion-O shuddered upon the ground, having felt an inexplicable tinge of cold as he passed through Snarf. He turned onto his back and looked perplexedly at Snarf. "Snarf, what's going on? Why did I--"  
  
"No time for that!" Snarf yelled franticly. "You've got to find Grune and the others. The Mutants! They're coming!"  
  
Lion-O was extremely confused. He examined "Are you really Snarf, or is this some sort of--"  
  
"I'm dead, all right? Deceased! A ghost! An apparition! A spirit! Got it? Good! Now GO FIND GRUNE!"  
  
Not sure what to do at the moment, Lion-O opted to obey this snarven spirit. He silently scanned the area looking for signs of the others. Moments later, he finally felt the nerve to speak to the azure spectre. "I'm worried. I don't see any other suspension capsules around here. What if I don't find the others? What if the mutants arrive before I find them? How do you even know the mutants are coming? Why did I feel so cold when I fell through you?" Lion-O glanced at Snarf. "Why are you blue?"  
  
Snarf sighed in frustration as he trotted along side of Lion-O, but he realised that now was not the time to stress the cub. "Look, they're around here somewhere. They didn't fall far from the crash site. And I just know the mutants are coming."  
  
Lion-O nodded, still not sure what to make of everything that was going on, but at least he was getting something that resembled answers. Lion-O then glanced at Snarf. "Hey, you didn't tell me why you're blue, or why I--"  
  
Snarf sighed again. "I'm a ghost."  
  
"So… that means you really are dead?" Lion-O asked, looking a bit saddened.  
  
Snarf wondered how many times he was going to sigh today, as he had just unleashed another one. He rolled his eyes, too, for good measure. "Yes, Lion-O."  
  
Lion-O continued along, searching for other pods, but he was still full of questions. "Why are you a ghost? Are you haunting me?"  
  
Snarf shrugged, slightly amused by the cub's questions for a change. "No, I'm not haunting you. Well, I don't think. I guess I'm just keeping my word, to watch over you until whenever. If that means haunting you, then maybe I am."  
  
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Lion-O admitted with a shrug of his own. He continued on for a moment more, when he finally saw something gleam in the distance. "Hey! A pod! Maybe Grune's in there!" Lion-O shouted, proud of himself that he had actually found one of the capsules. He then broke into a run, with Snarf following closely by his side. Lion-O peered into the window, and he saw Grune within, still asleep. "Hey, it's him! I found him!" Lion-O nearly cheered. However, Lion-O's revelry ended quickly.  
  
Snarf had turned around, bristled, arched his back and hissed. "Mutants...."  
  
A mutant ship had flown overhead, in the direction of the wreckage Snarf and Lion-O had left far behind.  
  
"Mutants?" Lion-O asked quizzically. "That sounds familiar, like.... I don't know, I should remember them."   
  
"Trust me, they're not people you'd *want* to remember," an irritated Snarf answered. "I was hoping they wouldn't get here so soon." Snarf turned to Lion-O, and he was overcome with an air of urgency. "Hurry, Lion-O, open the pod!"  
  
Lion-O looked for some way to open Grune's pod. He scanned up and down the length of the pod before he turned to Snarf. "Hey, just how *do* you open one of these things?" he wondered aloud.  
  
Snarf sighed once again. This was definitely going to be a rather bad day....**

* * *

**The world, to Grune, was cast in a red haze, and the landscape was severe. He realised that he was standing in the middle of nowhere, yet somehow, it was all too familiar. The landscape reminded him of something… somewhere. Images then began to flood his mind. Memories. Memories of a dying world, with a fierce, stale wind wailing across a barren landscape broken by tremor after tremor after relentless tremor. Thundera, he realised. He was back on Thundera somehow, but... didn't he--  
  
"Grune," a familiar voice echoed out from the wasteland. Before him, a blue, ghostly apparition slowly appeared. "Grune, listen to me. You must awaken. The others are in grave danger."  
  
Grune focused his attention upon the radiant blue figure now before him. "Jaga?" he asked uncertainly. "Have I died?"  
  
"No, Grune, you have not," Jaga reassured, "but you and all the other ThunderCats might if you do not awaken immediately."  
  
Grune scowled, or at least he felt as though he scowled. He felt disconnected from his body, as if he, too, were some wandering apparition. "What trouble? Why am I here? How do I awaken?" he asked with growing frustration.  
  
"I am speaking to you through your dreams, Grune. Your suspension capsule malfunctioned not long before the flagship entered the planet's atmosphere, and you were administered life-preserving medications shortly before you landed, in an attempt to keep you alive. Thankfully, you do live, but the effects of the medications have yet to wear off. That is why you still sleep. As for the danger, the mutants have arrived on the planet as well, and they are seeking through the debris of the wreckage of the flagship as we speak. It is only a matter of time before they find you and the others, and if they do...." Jaga's sudden moment of silence allowed Grune to complete the thought himself. "You must concentrate, Grune. Concentrate upon the Eye of Thundera, and it will help you to return to the conscious world."  
  
Grune nodded and began to concentrate as requested, but before doing so, he looked back to the ghostly image of Jaga. "Good to see you again, old friend."  
  
Jaga nodded and grinned. "It won't be the last time," he said before the dreamscape faded into nothingness.**

* * *

**Lion-O looked all around, and he was still uncertain on how to open the pod. "I just can't figure it out," Lion-O whispered harshly in frustration. Lion-O looked into the pod again, praying that somehow Grune would just wake up and do it for him, when suddenly, Grune's eyes popped open. Lion-O gasped and fell backwards. Snarf tried to catch him, but he forgot that, in his incorporeal state, the best he could do was watch helplessly as Lion-O fell through him again. Lion-O shivered. "That felt... weird. I just got a chill, worse than last time I fell through you."  
  
Snarf sighed. Again. At least Grune appeared to be awake, though, and indeed, he was, as the hatch unlocked itself and the capsule hissed quietly. Grune pushed the hatch away and tried to sit up, but when he tried, the world spun so violently that he immediately fell back within the pod. He thought he had heard voices outside. "Who.. who's there?" he asked.  
  
Lion-O jumped up and leaned over to get a better look at Grune. "It's me, Lion-O," he whispered, "and--" Lion-O stopped, realising that saying Snarf's ghost was with him might not be the best of things to mention at the moment. "-- um, the mutants are here, too."  
  
"I... I know," Grune admitted quietly to the cub, his mind reeling less as he rested. "Lion-O, take the sword and the shield."  
  
Lion-O reared his head back and gave Grune a very confused look. "Why? What's--"  
  
"No arguing, Lion-O," Grune demanded in a stern voice. "Take them, and hide. I'll stall them until you can find the others."  
  
"No, I can't do that," Lion-O protested. "ThunderCats don't abandon others in need."  
  
"And they don't disobey orders from superiors," Grune reminded Lion-O harshly.   
  
Lion-O nearly scowled, thinking that was a stupid rule, especially now. Once again, Lion-O felt like he was being kept out of a fight that he should be in.  
  
Grune opened his eyes. "And who said I'm in need?"  
  
"It's just that... you don't look too good," Lion-O admitted.  
  
"I'll be fine," Grune said as he started a grin. "After all, I'm Grune the Mighty. Now, take the sword and the shield and go, and whatever you do, *don't* let the mutants get their filthy hands on it. That's your duty."  
  
Lion-O still felt that he should stay and help Grune and the others-- if they were awake already-- fight the mutants, but he also realised that Grune was right. He had to keep the sword away from the mutants. Reluctantly, he reached into the pod and retrieved the Claw Shield and the Sword of Omens. He attached the shield to his belt, and looked at Grune one more time. Lion-O didn't know what to say, so he said nothing before dashing off into the distance, to hide behind a congregation of boulders.  
  
"Eye protect you," Grune said to the departing Lion-O as he slowly, quietly, loosely closed the hatch. He waited patiently for the first mutants to come by....**

* * *

**Meanwhile, the mutants were searching through the wreckage, as commanded by Ratar-O. "Search carefully! The Eye of Thundera must be in this wreckage somewhere!"   
  
"Hoo-hoo, over here! One of the ThunderCats is still in his suspension capsule and-- hoo-- here's another!" Monkian informed the other mutants.   
  
Jackalman stood over another capsule. "Nyeh-heh-heh, and here's another one! We'll never have a better chance be rid of them forever!"  
  
"So, the ThunderCats still live," Ratar-O said as he pulled at one side of his slender, moustache-like whiskers with his fingers. "Not for long, though."  
  
"Shall we rid ourselves of them now, Ratar-O?" Jackalman asked anxiously, ready to split a capsule into two with his halberd.  
  
"No, not yet," Ratar-O decided. "We have three of the ThunderCats, but there are still others that might be alive out there." Ratar-O turned and called out to the mutant search party around him. "I want each and every ThunderCat found and accounted for before we dispose of them. Search far and wide for them. *Especially* Grune. Is that understood?"  
  
A weak chorus of agreement rang through the mutants. Ratar-O frowned. "I said, 'IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?'."  
  
The mutants all called out clearly in unison, "Yes, Ratar-O, sir!"  
  
Ratar-O grinned slightly as he heard the obedient mutants acknowledge him properly. "Then go! Find those ThunderCats and return them to me!" Ratar-O then bore an exceedingly wicked grin as the mutants set off on a wider search of the area. "Soon, Grune," he said quietly, "we'll meet again, and I'll finally settle my personal score with you."**

* * *

**Grune continued to rest within the capsule, but he could still feel the lingering effects of the medications affecting his mind and body. He prayed to the Eye that he could serve as enough of a distraction so that Lion-O could hopefully find the others and escape. Then, he heard them. Mutants. He was sure of it, even through the walls of the capsule. He waited patiently for them to get closer.  
  
A monkian and two jackalmen came upon Grune's pod, and they cackled and hooted in evil delight.   
  
"We found another one," one jackal declared.  
  
"Nyah-haanh! Let's see which furball *this* one is," the other said.  
  
As they looked in through the window on the capsule's hatch, they saw what appeared to be a sleeping Grune.  
  
"Hoo! Ratar-O's gonna be proud of us!" the monkian declared. "We found Grune!"  
  
Before the mutants had time to stand back up, Grune immediately, forcefully pushed open the capsule's hatch, cracking the mutants in their faces. He thrust the hatch open all the way, knocking the monkian to the ground while the jackalmen held their faces tenderly and whined painfully. Grune wasted no time in getting out of the pod, but he nearly fell into the jackalmen in the process. "Blasted meds," he cursed as he grabbed onto the two surprised jackals' necks for support. He then mightily rammed their heads together with a resounding crack. Grune paused to rest against the pod briefly before he headed over to the still-dazed monkian, who was slowly crawling away from the capsule. Grune seized the monkian, tore him from the ground and mercilessly slammed him onto the capsule. With the three mutants incapacitated for now, Grune rested against the capsule yet again. The world was spinning, his head was splitting and he was already out of breath. "Blasted meds," he repeated quietly.  
  
Lion-O, from his distant hiding spot, emerged from behind the boulders, and saw Grune's condition. "Grune!" he shouted out as he began to run to him.  
  
"No!" Grune roared as he struggled to stand without assistance. "Get away! I command you!"  
  
"But--," Lion-O began weakly, but Snarf interrupted him.  
  
"Lion-O, no, we gotta get out of here. Remember? You gotta keep the Sword of Omens safe from the mutants. Grune can't anymore. He's in no condition. It's all up to you, Lion-O. All up to you now."  
  
Lion-O gave Grune an indecisive glance. He wanted to stay and fight. He wanted to obey and keep the sword safe. After a few seconds, Lion-O nodded sadly, having rendered his decision. He ran. He didn't want to, but he did. Keep the sword safe. That was what he focused on, just those four words, because if he thought about losing Grune, he was going to cry, and he didn't want Snarf to see that. Not now.  
  
Grune sighed in relief as he heard Lion-O run off. In fact, he thanked the Eye for that. Grune steadied himself as he stood, and he attempted to take a step. It was an unsteady step, but it was at least progress. Then, he heard them again. More mutants. They must have heard the commotion. As he narrowed his eyes to get a better view, he could make out a large number of them. Yes, they had heard the commotion. They were coming after him. He wouldn't be as much of a threat as he normally was in his current condition, but he most certainly planned on taking down as many wretched vermin as possible. He stood tense and waited once more. Grune the Mighty was ready for them. He was ready for them all.**

* * *

**Lion-O had run for what he had felt like an eternity before stopping to rest. "I gotta stop, Snarf," Lion-O said. "I gotta rest."  
  
Snarf scanned around. "Well, I think we're safe for now," he reported. "I don't see or hear them."  
  
Lion-O sat upon the ground, against another boulder. He looked to Snarf with a very serious face upon him. "Snarf, I'm going back to the wreck. If they found Grune, then they might have found the others, too. I... I can't abandon them. I just can't, Snarf. I don't care what Grune said. It's wrong."  
  
Snarf frowned. He wanted to protest, to remind the cub that he had to keep the Sword of Omens safe as Grune had commanded. He wanted to let Lion-O know just how suicidal that plan was in general. However, Snarf didn't. Snarf couldn't bring himself to let the others suffer under the hands of those vile mutants, either. "Your first major decision as Lord of the ThunderCats. Can't say I'm not proud of you, Lion-O, because I am."  
  
"Really?" Lion-O beamed, rejoicing over the fact that Snarf had agreed with him. "You are?"  
  
Snarf nodded with a smile. "Just one thing."  
  
"Yeah, sure, Snarf. What?"  
  
"If you *do* wind up getting into a tussle, Lion-O, do *whatever* I tell you. If I tell you to jump, jump. If I tell you to roll, roll. They won't know I'm helping you, and if they see how good a fighter you are, how well you avoid getting hit in combat, they might just get intimidated enough to lose their nerve. Nothing scares and frustrates an enemy more than someone they just can't hit."  
  
"Okay," Lion-O agreed, feeling a rush of adrenaline already. A combat? Was he already going to get into a combat? He hoped not. Sure, he wanted to prove himself, that he was fit to be the Lord of the ThunderCats as well as the future king, but he really didn't want to get hurt. Still, if he had to fight-- and even get hurt-- to save his friends, he'd do it with no questions asked. He was glad he had Snarf along, even if he was a ghost. Lion-O doubted that he'd be able to last long against even one mutant all by himself.  
  
"Alright, if were going to do it, then let's do it," Snarf said, quoting Panthro. Lion-O smiled at Snarf, nodded and stood as well, and the two headed back to the wreckage site.  
  
A while later, the two returned to the site, and the settled behind another outcropping of boulders. There, Lion-O saw that the mutant ship was hovering above the wreckage, and that several groups of Mutants were roaming around, looking for something. Lion-O looked at the Sword of Omens. "I remember now. They're looking for this, aren't they?" Lion-O asked in hushed tones.  
  
Snarf nodded.  
  
Then, a group of mutants appeared from the far horizon and hurriedly made their way to the site, dragging someone with them. Behind the quicker group was a slower group of mutants, apparently badly injured by the way they leaned upon one another or limped when alone.  
  
"I wonder what got them?" Lion-O said curiously.  
  
As they approached, the figure the quicker group was dragging along became more and more noticeable. Once the figure was close enough, Lion-O went wide-eyed with shock. He had to repress the urge to shout out his discovery. "Grune..."  
  
Ratar-O stood haughtily at the centre of the crash site and stared at the approaching mutants, himself curious as to what they had found. As they drew closer, Ratar-O saw whom they were dragging along, and he grinned fiendishly. "We have you at last, Grune," Ratar-O laughed as Grune was brought to him and thrown to his feet. "You don't look so good. Something go wrong while in suspension," he teased, "or were my mutants to much for your might to handle?"  
  
Grune managed to push himself off of the ground and kneel in front of Ratar-O. He merely growled at the mocking rat.  
  
Ratar-O calmly turned his back to Grune and took a few steps away before facing him again. "Where's the sword, Grune? If anyone should know, it's you."  
  
Grune didn't answer. He merely snorted angrily.  
  
"If you don't, something unpleasant will happen to one of your friends," he grinned maliciously. He motioned to a group of mutants who were standing in front of the capsules, and those mutants parted, revealing Monkian. The simian had a fierce halberd at hand, one that looked like it could actually tear through the metal and cut into the occupants within. Ratar-O looked back to Grune, a triumphant air about him. "Drag him away, underlings," Ratar-O demanded of the two burly simian brutes. "Close enough to watch, but far enough away so that he won't be able help them in time." Ratar-O leaned in close to Grune's face. "Not that, in your current condition, I'd even *expect* you to break free, you pathetic excuse for a ThunderCat. Speaking of which, the only way *you* could have wound up as Lord of the ThunderCats was if both Jaga and Claudus were out of the picture. It's a pity about Claudus, though. I wonder what he would have been like if he got over his hatred of mutants. It would have been interesting to have Claudus as an ally, after he turned on everything you and your ThunderCats held so dear. In fact, I think he would have been a fitting replacement for Ratilla."  
  
Grune emitted a low, threatening rumble of a growl, and he stared hatefully, unblinkingly into the rat's fiendish eyes.  
  
Ratar-O, looking rather pleased with himself, leaned back and nodded at the two mutants, who did as they were told. Once they were far enough away, Ratar-O nodded to them, and the two stopped. "Now, I'm only going to ask *one* more time, Grune. Where is the sword?"  
  
Grune looked away. He didn't want his fellow ThunderCats to die, of course, but he couldn't reveal that Lion-O had the sword, either. The sword's safety was more important, as was Lion-O's. He said not a word.  
  
"Prideful to the very end, I see," Ratar-O grinned. "What a pity that your pride will only get your precious ThunderCat allies killed. Monkian! Show Grune here that we mean business!"  
  
"With pleasure, Ratar-O! Hoo-hoo-hoo!" Monkian shouted as he raised the halberd high, ready to cleave the pod into two.  
  
Lion-O had watched enough, and he jumped out of hiding. "No, stop!" he yelled.  
  
Monkian lowered his weapon, turned and looked around. "Huh?" he asked in confusion.   
  
"Caaaw, who said that?" a rather surprised Vultureman, now by Ratar-O's side, asked, as he too turned to seek out who had spoken.  
  
"A better question will soon be 'Who *was* that?'," Ratar-O sneered as he turned to see the brazen interloper. "Wait, that's Lion-O, and he has the Sword of Omens! Grab him, mutants! Don't let him get away!"  
  
Grune noticed Lion-O as well. **Blast it, Lion-O,** Grune mentally cursed, **why didn't you get as far away from here as possible?** Grune knew why, actually. He didn't blame Lion-O for wanting to save everyone. Lion-O had already lost so much, but Grune still wished that Lion-O had taken the sword-- and himself-- to safety.  
  
Lion-O bolted across the wrecked ship as best he could. Two mutants jumped at him, but Lion-O grabbed one with each arm and swung them around. More mutants surrounded him, but Snarf came to his aid by yelling out his advice.  
  
"Lion-O, duck!"  
  
Lion-O ducked, and a club struck a mutant directly in front of Lion-O instead and knocked him backwards.  
  
"Jump!"  
  
Lion-O jumped and he missed having his lower legs hacked off. Lion-O continued to amazingly avoid every attack directed at him, and this fact was not unnoticed by Vultureman nor by Ratar-O.  
  
"Impossible!" Vultureman cried and pointed. "No one can avoid that many attacks without so much as a scratch!"  
  
"We have to get that sword away from him, Vultureman," Ratar-O stated. "It's the only explanation to this uncanny ability of his."  
  
Vultureman nodded and hefted his invention. "Caaw, leave that to me, Ratar-O," Vultureman stated confidently as he slowly made his way around the group. Along the way, he tapped a few buttons on a control panel on the bulky gun. No longer was it a spreading energy blast gun. It was now an energy-net gun.   
  
While the avian tinkered with his gun and circled Lion-O from afar, Ratar-O walked directly toward the cub.  
  
Snarf, who saw the approach of Ratar-O but not that of Vultureman, growled fiercely. "Lion-O, get out of here, Ratar-O's coming!" he warned, "Oh, and jump left!"  
  
"No," Lion-O declared in mid-jump, avoiding being sliced down the middle by reptilian's sword. "I'm gonna stay and fight."  
  
Ratar-O paused and looked at Lion-O oddly. Did he just talk to himself? Ratar-O shook his head. **Cubs...**  
  
Vultureman had now silently positioned himself a short distance behind Lion-O, and he aimed his gun steadily at the cub. "Now, stay still for just a moment," he quietly said as he prepared to fire. Right when Lion-O landed from his jump, Vultureman pulled the trigger, unleashing a glowing red energy net that wrapped tightly around the cub. "I got him, Ratar-O! I got the brat!" Vultureman cheered in egotistical triumph.  
  
Taken by surprise, Lion-O dropped the sword he was about to point at Ratar-O. "Hey!" Lion-O shouted, "Let me go, or you'll be in big trouble!"  
  
"You're the one in trouble, youth!" Ratar-O declared boldy as he walked right up to the ensnared cub, and he tossed him to two other mutants for them to hold. He then claimed the sword, which growled upon being touched. The mutants cowered a bit, but Ratar-O stood undaunted by the sound.   
  
Lion-O struggled futilely. The energy net faded, but not before he was well restrained by the two mutants.  
  
Ratar-O stared harshly at the cub, and malicious intent was clearly seen in his eyes. "I said you'd pay for that insult upon me back when we boarded your ship, cub, and I intend to carry out my threat. It'll give me great pleasure to see the last of the mighty Lion clan wiped out of existence, as well as all the other ThunderCats. But, we'll get to that in a moment. I feel the need to gloat my victory." Ratar-O snickered devilishly. "I thank you, cub. Without you, your utter defeat wouldn't have come so easily."  
  
Lion-O frowned in dejection. **Aw, what've I done?** he lamented mentally as he cast saddened eyes to the ground.  
  
Ratar-O turned to the other Mutants, who had gathered around, except for the two restraining Grune. Those two were still a good distance back, as they were ordered. "Today is a great day for us mutants, a day that will go down in history!" Ratar-O declared dramatically. "Not only will we see the last of these accursed ThunderCats, but we finally have the greatest treasure of them all! Behold, the Eye of Thundera!" Ratar-O held the sword high for all to see, and the mutants around him began cheering and hooting loudly in victory. Ratar-O cast a glance to Grune, who merely stared at him unemotionally. "It's over, Grune. You and your ThunderCats will be no more!" Ratar-O declared before he turned his attention to the celebrating mutants. To them, it appeared that they had indeed won, but it wasn't over yet for the ThunderCats.  
  
Grune had a plan.  
  
Grune looked to the two mutants who held him tight. "You two know each other well?" Grune asked with a wry smile.  
  
The two monkians looked at each other, confused and wondering if this ThunderCat had lost his mind. "Uh, no," one monkian finally replied.  
  
Grune smiled wickedly. "Time to get acquainted then," he said, right before he put all of his strength into pulling his arms together in front of him and violently slamming the two mutants into one another. The ensuing collision knocked them both out cold. However, the medications still took their toll on Grune. He fell to his knees as the vertigo returned in full force. He had to prop himself up on his hands, to keep from falling over completely. He rested a moment, hoping that the mutants hadn't seen his display of brute strengh. He lifted his head and tried to focus on the gathering up ahead. So far, it seemed that they hadn't. They were still focused upon Ratar-O. Good. It gave Grune enough time to concentrate once more. He arched his back so that he was kneeling upright, and he held out his hand. He needed to distract them, and he was certain that this would do the trick. "Sword of Omens, come to my hand!" he bellowed in as commanding a voice as he could muster.  
  
Ratar-O turned and stumbled as the sword pulled him around and tore itself free from his grip. Ratar-O, briefly surprised, stared with a gaping maw before realising what had just happened.  
  
The sword flew effortlessly through the air and landed its hilt directly into Grune's expecting hand. Grune then, with as much effort as his strength and will could marshal, stood, and he cut the air to one side with the sword. "Thunder!" he roared.  
  
Ratar-O's face contorted with the combined expressions of utter fury and dismay. "Mutants!" he began to demand.  
  
Grune tore the air once more with the sword, swinging it to the opposite side. "Thunder!"  
  
"Stop him!" Ratar-O demanded urgently.  
  
"ThunderCats, HO!" Grune roared as he pierced the heavens with the mighty sword. It was too late. The mutants didn't get to Grune quickly enough. The signal tore through the sky, giving the mutants cause to hesitate their onrush. Grune's eyes were now glowing a bright yellow, and the power of the Eye surged through him. Any trace of vertigo had vanished, and he stood tall and commandingly in front of the cowering mutants. He sneered at them, but he said not a word. He merely levelled the Sword of Omens at the two mutants restraining Lion-O, and he unleashed a blast at each one. The mutants saw this coming and decided to drop the cub and run instead of taking the hits. Lion-O fell to the ground and looked to Grune, an expression of thanks upon his face. Grune smiled and nodded his head to one side. Lion-O didn't have to ask what that meant. He bolted for a safer place. The mutants didn't pay the cub any mind, as they had a new threat to deal with: Grune. Unfortunately, they didn't realise that an even newer threat had come to be: the other ThunderCats, who were now bursting forth from their capsules, having been awakened by the signal.  
  
"The Thundercats! They're... they're loose!" Monkian exclaimed as he pointed to the opened capsules.  
  
"I can *see* that, you simian simpleton!" Ratar-O shouted back as he readied himself for battle.   
  
The ThunderCats sprang froth from their capsules to fight the congregation of confused, frightened mutants. Cheetara ran circles around a group of reptillians and beat them up soundly with her staff.  
  
Tygra turned invisible with his whip and lashed several mutants with it, giving them cause to flee the battle.   
  
Panthro picked up a mutant and threw him. "I'm gonna loosen your bones for you, too!" Panthro threatened as he lifted a part of the wreckage that several mutants were standing on and shook them all off.   
  
WilyKit and WilyKat, who, like all the other ThunderCats, had not aged significantly, were fighting mutants by throwing pellets at them. The pellets released smoke of varying colours which made the mutants cough and choke.  
  
Vultureman was seeking out Lion-O, who was hiding behind a boulder near a tall tree. "Come out, cub! You can't hide for long! Either be blasted into oblivion by me, or be tortured slowly when the other mutants find you!"  
  
Lion-O felt vulnerable without the sword. What was he going to do? He was getting sick of all this hiding, but he couldn't go against Vultureman. Could he? He had that gun, and he had nothing. Wait! He didn't have nothing! Lion-O looked to the Claw Shield. **Of course, how could I forget about this?** he thought as he put on the shield. It felt bulky, but it was all he had as a weapon. He moved his fingers around, and without warning, a line burst out from the claw and buried itself in the boulder. **Blast it, it's stuck in the boulder,** he realised as he tugged at the line. Lion-O stopped to peer around the boulder, and he saw that Vultureman was still some distance away. It seemed as though Vultureman hadn't heard the noise the line made. Lion-O mentally sighed in relief, but he was still puzzling on how to remove the line from the boulder. Then, it hit him. If wiggling his fingers around shot the line out, then…. He quickly wiggled his fingers again, trying to repeat how he moved them before. Unfortunately, the line didn't let go of the boulder. It instead pulled him to it. **Blast!** Lion-O mentally cursed. **Why can't anything go right for me?** He peered around the boulder, and Vultureman was drawing closer. **What am I going to do?** he wondered as he began to panic.  
  
"Lion-O, I found you!" Snarf said as he ran up to Lion-O. "You see Vultureman up ahead?"  
  
Lion-O nodded silently, relieved to see him again.  
  
"Any ideas on what to do?"  
  
Lion-O shook his head.  
  
"Well, we better think of something fast. He'll find you any-- Um, Lion-O?"  
  
Lion-O gave Snarf a rather distressed look.  
  
"Don't tell me you're stuck."  
  
Lion-O shrugged helplessly.  
  
Snarf sighed. "That's what you get for fooling around with things you haven't been trained to use. Now drop the shield and--"  
  
Lion-O shook his head fiercely.  
  
"Lion-O, it's not worth it. It's not the Eye of Thundera, just some fancy-shmancy shield. Now come on, before you get--"  
  
Lion-O shook his head fiercely again.  
  
Snarf sadly shook his own head in response. "Okay, fine, but you better have a plan now. He's getting really close, and I can't to a blasted thing to stop him."  
  
Lion-O peered over the boulder again, and he noted that Vultureman wasn't too far away now.  
  
"You're making this hard on yourself, cub!" Vultureman called out again. "I've got my gun set as a blaster, on its highest setting! Just one shot. You'll be vaporised. You won't even feel a thing. I promise!" Vultureman paused to hear the nonexistent reply. "You can't hide from the inevitable! Might as well come out now!"  
  
Lion-O gulped. "Got any ideas?" he asked Snarf in whispered desperation.  
  
Snarf, lost in thought, was busy tapping his foot upon the ground, and his tail twitched around. Then, he perked up. He looked at the line stuck in the boulder. He looked at the tree. He looked at the Claw Shield. He ran away and looked at Vultureman. He ran back to Lion-O and looked at him. "Yeah, I got one! Crazy enough to work! Listen! See if you can make the shield pull you back into the boulder again. Then, jump in front of that tree. He said he's got his gun on its most powerful setting. I'm just guessing here, but that sounds a lot more powerful than what he blasted me with back when we were fighting off those mutants in the sword chamber, and if that's true, that tree won't stand much of a chance, so when he goes to blast you, let the Claw Shield pull you back to safety. Hopefully, the tree will fall at him, and he'll run away. Better yet, he'll get trapped under the tree! That ought to buy us enough time to figure out how to free the Claw Shield and get out of here."  
  
"Okay, Snarf," Lion-O agreed. It was as good a plan as any, he guessed.  
  
Snarf bounded away and walked along side Vultureman, hoping all the while that the nutty little plan inside his little snarven head would work. "You know, you're one ugly mutant. I bet that's not really your face. I bet some reptillian threw up on your neck," Snarf teased, knowing that the avian couldn't hear him one bit. "I've always wanted to say that," he confessed to no one in particular.  
  
Were Lion-O less scared, he would have been in a fit of uncontrollable laugher. Instead, Lion-O tugged on the cable that connected him to the boulder, making sure that it was firm. He pulled away a bit, and he wiggled his fingers again. The result was his being pulled back onto the boulder. Lion-O removed himself from the boulder once more and pulled out a decent measure of cable from the Claw Shield, ready this time to put Snarf's plan into action. He really, really hoped that Snarf knew what he was talking about. Lion-O gulped, crouched low and jumped out from behind the boulder and in front of the tree. "Hey, feather-for-brains! I bet ya can't hit me!" he mocked as he stuck his tongue out at Vultureman and wiggled his free hand in front of his nose.  
  
"Why, you insolent... little... CAAAW!" Infuriated, Vultureman wasted no time in aiming at Lion-O. He pulled the trigger.  
  
Lion-O was prepared, however, and he wiggled his fingers within the Claw Shield when he saw the weapon aimed at him. In an instant, before the blast arrived where once stood, Lion-O was pulled forcefully to the boulder once more, smacking into it this time. "Ow, stupid boulder!" he cried out before falling backwards.  
  
The blast had passed through where Lion-O once stood and tore through the base of the tree, shattering it into a cloud of ash and smouldering splinters. The rest of the tree commenced its immediate tilted decent, and it headed right for Vultureman. The vulture genius squawked out in fear and turned to run away. Snarf scowled when he saw that Vultureman was about to flee, but Snarf had a sudden flash of an idea. Snarf began to jump though him, back and forth, as often as he could. Vultureman immediately stumbled, dropped his gun and ceased running. He hunched over and wrapped both arms around his body. He was shivering too violently from being overwhelmed by an unnatural cold, a chill that felt like it came from deep within him. "Wh-wh-what b-b-b-by th-the pits of Pl-pl-plun-- AAAAUGH!" Vultureman didn't get a chance to finish his stuttered sentence, as the tree toppled directly upon the avian, pinning him firmly to the ground with its myriad of branches. Vultureman cawed out in a wobbly voice as his eyes rolled around erratically in their sockets.  
  
Snarf stood where he was, letting the tree fall through him. Once the tree stopped moving, Snarf walked away and turned to look at the dizzy bird. "That didn't hurt me one bit," Snarf laughed. He then thumbed at Vultureman. "Can't say the same for ol' butt-ugly beak-face there." Snarf's comedic attitude quickly faded when he saw that Lion-O was sitting on the ground. "Lion-O, you alright?"  
  
Lion-O quickly regained his senses, and found that he was no longer tethered to the boulder. "Hey, I'm free!" he rejoiced as he stood and brushed himself off.  
  
Snarf bore a smile of relief "Thank Jaga! To be honest, I didn't have a clue on how to free you."  
  
Lion-O then perked up. "Hey, Snarf, *I* got an idea!"  
  
"I hope not as dangerous as mine," Snarf worried.  
  
"I don't think so," Lion-O said uncertainly as he dashed to where the still not-quite-conscious Vultureman was pinned. Lion-O searched around and pulled out the gun he was using.  
  
"Lion-O, be careful with that," Snarf warned. "Last thing you need is that thing blowing up on you because you pressed the wrong thing. It's mutant technology. Heck, I don't think you even have to press the wrong thing. Just look at it wrong and--"  
  
"I know what I'm doing Snarf, and I'll be fine," Lion-O interjected while rolling his eyes. Lion-O managed to pull the gun away from the dazed Vultureman, but not without some effort. "Sheesh, and I thought the Sword of Omens was heavy!"  
  
"It's not heavy. It's awkward," Snarf corrected.  
  
"Same thing," Lion-O stated as he set the gun on the ground, away from the tree. He set one hand upon the area where he thought the trigger was, and he pointed the large gun at part of a crowd of mutants. They were menacing Cheetara and Tygra, who were standing back to back, ready to fight them off. Then Lion-O noted the control panel on the gun's side. "Hey, maybe I can really teach those mutants a lesson by changing what the gun blasts. Maybe we can make some burning nets or something." Lion-O proceeded to press various buttons, and the gun beeped and blipped randomly.  
  
Snarf was about to object to fiddling with the gun, but he shrugged and relented. "Oh, well, nothing ventured, nothing gained." Snarf leaned in and examined the panel for himself. "Hey, Lion-O. Press that button. Looks pretty important."  
  
"Okay, Snarf," Lion-O complied. An odd buzzing sound issued forth from the gun and increased in volume for a second, but nothing else happened. "I wonder what that was all about."  
  
"Maybe it powered up real good," Snarf hoped.  
  
"Yeah, maybe it'll blast those Mutants off the face of this planet."  
  
"That'd be nice," Snarf hoped again, this time with a smile.  
  
Vultureman had just regained his senses, only to find a tree on top of him, and one of it's limbs was pressing against his back. Then he saw that the cub was tinkering with *his* invention, and he pounded at the ground in rage. "Get away from that!" he demanded as he struggled to free himself from the tree. He tried pushing himself up off the ground, but the tree was too heavy. He tried moving the limb, but it wouldn't budge, and in his position on the ground, it was an awkward attempt at best. Try as he might, he just couldn't escape. "I'll skin you alive for this, you... you... CAAAW!" Vultureman was so frustrated that he had run out of words to say.  
  
Lion-O ignored the raging avian. He was having too much fun getting the gun ready. "This'll teach those stupid mutants to mess with us," Lion-O declared as he pulled on the trigger. The gun recoiled violently and slid out from underneath Lion-O, causing him to topple over and eliciting a mighty "Whoa!" from him. The blast tore across the ground, widening and growing as it went along, and ploughed right into a section of the unwary mutants. They were immediately scattered by the brute strength of the blast. The rest, fearful for their lives, cowardly turned tail and fled the scene, leaving Tygra and Cheetara by themselves.  
  
"Aw, that wasn't impressive," Snarf complained half-jokingly.  
  
"Oh, Ratar-O's not going to like that," Vultureman commented quietly to himself.  
  
Tygra and Cheetara looked at each other curiously, and then they looked to where the blast had originated. "Tygra, look who's joined us!" Cheetara exclaimed, and pointed to Lion-O.  
  
Lion-O had raised a gloved fist into the air. "ThunderCats, Ho!" the cub proudly shouted.  
  
"ThunderCats, ho!" Tygra and Cheetara called back.   
  
WilyKit and WilyKat were busy defending themselves from Monkian's slow attacks. WilyKit grinned while WilyKat shrugged at the mention of Lion-O. "Hmph, what's the big deal?" WilyKat said, unimpressed. "All he did was blast at a few mutants." He then blew some dust into Monkian's face, who was distracted by the mayhem that Lion-O had created.   
  
"My eyes!" the simian cried as he backed away from WilyKat and tried to rub the gritty substance out of his eyes. WilyKit then used her lariat to trip Monkian, who did his best to crawl away, occasionally rubbing one eye or the other along the way. The sight elicited a great bout of laughter from the two ThunderKittens.  
  
"Who needs guns," started WilyKat.  
  
"when you have," continued WilyKit.  
  
"cunning!" the two ended proudly to each other before heading off to find another mutant to torment.  
  
Back at the fallen tree, the avian's gun had slid back towards its creator, and he was frenziedly trying to reclaim it. It was almost within reach. However, the gun began to make a bizarre pattern of beeps. Vultureman grew rather distressed. *Very* distressed. "Help!" he cried out pathetically. "Get me out of here! It's overloading! It's going to explode!"  
  
Snarf turned to Lion-O, who shared his look of urgency. Neither had to say a word to each other. They simply ran as fast as they could, leaving a hysterical Vultureman to take the explosion up close and personal. The gun detonated, sending the tree and Vultureman soaring through the air. The tree and the avian landed in vastly different locations. Vultureman, his feathers and skin blackened by the fiery blast, wobbly stood up, only to puff out rings of smoke from his nostrils and unleash a weak squawk before falling back down, beak first.  
  
Near the crash site of the Thunderian flagship, Grune had barrelled through some mutant soldiers in order to get to Ratar-O, with whom he was now facing off. They circled each other like two fierce predators about to fight over a disputed kill.  
  
"A sword, Grune?" Ratar-O laughed. "Not exactly an appropriate weapon for a sabre-tooth, is it?"  
  
"No, it isn't," Grune admitted.  
  
"Do you honestly think you can defeat me, Grune? I've spent a lifetime learning the intricacies of the Rat's Eyes' powers. You've barely had a few years to learn the Sword's mysteries."  
  
"You think I'm afraid of some fat rat and his little toy swords?" Grune scoffed. "No sabre-tooth would be afraid of that, least of all me."  
  
"Brave words from a brainless throwback," Ratar-O returned. "Admit defeat now, Grune, and your suffering will be brief."  
  
"The only suffering I'm feeling is from your constant prattling."  
  
"Where did you learn that from?" Ratar-O scoffed. "You didn't come up with that by yourself, you wretched sack of fur."  
  
Grune snorted. "From the same person who taught me this." He raised the sword high and shouted, "Sword of Omens, I bid you, change!"  
  
Ratar-O watched in awe as the sword glowed brightly and altered its form. In less than a second, the Sword of Omens was no more. Grune was now holding… a Mace of Omens. It would have taken the average Thunderian two hands to wield the massive mace. Grune easily swung it around with one.  
  
"What?" Ratar-O cried out in disbelief. "How--"  
  
"Still think I'm inexperienced with this?" Grune interrupted as he pointed the intimidating mace at Ratar-O. "TIME TO FIND OUT!" Grune roared with a menacing sneer as he relentlessly lunged at Ratar-O.  
  
Ratar-O crossed his sais above and in front of him, just as Grune swung his mace down at him with the force of a landslide. Ratar-O caught the mace between the blades of his crossed sais, but Grune's strength was superior to his own, and his body began to quiver and buckle. Ratar-O concentrated, and he let off a quick blast from the two Rat's eyes, connecting with Grune at his chest. Grune stumbled backwards, enough for Ratar-O to regain his footing and set up his next attack. He concentrated again, and he let off another blast from the Rat's Eyes. The yellow jets of energy joined at a common point, from where an intensified beam streaked at Grune. Grune confidently held up the Mace of Omens, which emitted its own red beam from the Eye of Thundera, situated directly below the head of the knobbed mace. For a moment, neither weapon gained an advantage over the other, but Grune grinned menacingly at Ratar-O. Ratar-O raised a brow, and his face showed a bit of concern. His concern was well justified. Grune leaned forward, a fanged smile replacing his earlier grin. "Ho!" he shouted out once more, and the red beam from the Eye of Thundera began to push back against the beam from the Rat's Eyes. Ratar-O began to tremble again. He sweated and breathed forcefully. He pushed as much will into the force of the energy beams as he could muster, but he was no match for the power of the Eye of Thundera. The red beam streaked through the air and struck true, sending Ratar-O tumbling away. Grune roared once again and charged at the rat mutant, who was only just beginning to stand and reclaim his bearings. Grune's mace ripped through the air as it arced, and it made contact with Ratar-O's side, sending him rolling across the ground once more. Grune ceased his assault momentarily, so that he could assess what the rat mutant would do next.  
  
Ratar-O forced himself to kneel, and his breathing was laboured. He looked hatefully at Grune as he attempted to stand, but his injury was too great. He fell back onto one knee and yelped in pain.  
  
Grune stood proudly over Ratar-O, and a satisfied smile now stretched across the throwback's maw. "It took several mutants to get the better of me, and I was drugged. It's only taking one ThunderCat to take you down. Now who needs to admit defeat?"  
  
Ratar-O looked around to his fellow mutants, and he saw that they were being beaten by a mere handful of Thunderians. The fact made him rage inside, and this rage was intensified by being publicly brought down by this primitive-looking freak of a Thunderian.  
  
"Leave," Grune sternly commanded the fallen leader of the mutants. "Now." Just in case Ratar-O didn't get the point, Grune directed his mace at him, almost touching Ratar-O's snout.  
  
With one arm wrapped around his injured side, Ratar-O hissed fiercely when he realised that he and his band of mutants had lost this battle. He glanced back to Grune, his words unsteady and broken from pain. "This isn't over between us, Grune! I will have my revenge upon you, and I will crush the ThunderCats and anyone else who dares to stand in my way!" That said, Ratar-O looked to the mutants. "Back, mutants! Teleport yourselves back to the ship!" he commanded. The mutants all pressed buttons on their arm bracelets and beamed back aboard their ship, and the ship took off not long after, leaving the ThunderCats momentarily revelling in victory.  
  
Grune, having made sure that every last mutant was gone from view, finally decided that it was time for the Mace of Omens to resume it's original form. He swung the mace from side to side, and the mace shrank and transformed back into the more familiar, smaller sword.  
  
Lion-O ran up to Grune. "Wow, you think you can teach me that trick some day?"  
  
Grune chuckled. "Someday, Lion-O. Glad to see you're well."  
  
"Wow, just how many tricks *do* you know with the Sword of Omens?" WilyKit asked as the other ThunderCats began to assemble around Grune.  
  
"Yeah, I bet you know plenty," WilyKat said.  
  
"Actually," Grune admitted, "all I know is how to summon, how to make the sword extend, how to make it blast out energy beams, how to make it return to my hand, and how to make it change into a mace."  
  
"That's it?" WilyKat asked in near disbelief.  
  
"I thought you would have known more than just that," WilyKit stated, almost disappointed in tone.  
  
"That's it," Grune, shrugging, continued to admit. "Jaga was the expert with its powers, not me. I'm just Grune the Mighty." Grune slyly winked to the other ThunderCats, which brought on a bit of chuckling from them. "Though, like any other mutant, Ratar-O was stupid enough to underestimate even me."   
  
"It's a good thing mutants aren't all that intelligent, overall," Tygra laughed.  
  
"Yeah," Panthro added, "if they even had one bit of intelligence among them, they'd be a *real* threat."  
  
"If we're lucky," Cheetara added, "they at least learned their lesson today."  
  
"You mean, if *they're* lucky," WilyKit and WilyKat shouted out together.  
  
Grune laughed mightily along with everyone else at the ThunderKitten's humorous correction. "Alright, enough mutant bashing. We've done our share for today. Now, let's rest up before we hunt for anything we can use from the wreckage."**

* * *

**Later that day, after resting from the battle, the ThunderCats assembled at the centre of the wreckage site, ready to take stock of what usable supplies remained.  
  
"So, does anyone here think that's the last we'll see of the mutants?" a curious WilyKat asked everyone.   
  
"Yeah, we beat them pretty good," WilyKit declared.  
  
"No. The way I see it, the mutants will never rest until the Eye of Thundera is in their clutches," Panthro stated.   
  
"That'll never happen," Lion-O asserted. "because we won't let them." Lion-O then looked to Grune. "Will we, Grune?"  
  
Grune patted Lion-O upon the shoulder, and he grinned at him with pride. "Lion-O, I think it's time you stop looking to me and start looking to yourself."   
  
"What do you mean by that?" Lion-O wondered aloud.  
  
"I remember telling you to take the Sword of Omens and hide."  
  
Lion-O grew somewhat ashamed. "I know. I just felt wrong leaving everyone to the mutants. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt, or worse." Lion-O looked up apologetically to Grune. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you."  
  
"Don't be."  
  
Lion-O was confused. "But… I thought it's wrong to disobey an order, Grune. You said so."  
  
"Sometimes it is," Grune stated, "but you made a decision not to obey, because you thought it was wrong. In this case, it was, and you made the right decision to disobey."  
  
"I did?" Lion-O said, still confused.  
  
Tygra nodded. "Yes, Lion-O. Sometimes, as a ThunderCat, you have to know when to follow an order, and when to follow your conscience."  
  
"And your conscience told you that it was better to save us than to save yourself," Cheetara added.  
  
"That's a sure sign that you've taken one of the tenets of the Code of Thundera to heart, Lion-O: Loyalty," Panthro stated.  
  
"You're loyal to what matters most. Your friends," Tygra said.  
  
"And not some order that might have doomed us all," Grune added. He then extended the Sword of Omens to Lion-O for him to take. "I said this would be waiting for you when we got to our new home, and I meant it. This is yours now, Lion-O. From now on, *you* are the Lord of the ThunderCats, without question."  
  
Lion-O blushed, and he nodded his thanks to him, not quite sure what to say. Then he became fully conscious of Grune's words, and he put on as best a noble air as he could.  
  
"Get a load of him!" WilyKat said with amusement, thumbing at Lion-O.   
  
WilyKit laughed. "One tiny skirmish and he's suddenly a superhero!"   
  
"Now, now," Panthro said, "he did pretty good for his first time out."   
  
"He did indeed, and a fine example of a ThunderCat you've become, Lion-O," Tygra agreed.   
  
"Yes, and he'll be a fine leader, as well," Cheetara added with an approving smile.  
  
Lion-O blushed at all of the compliments, and he smiled gratefully to those gathered around him. He didn't want to tell him that Snarf had helped him. After all, who would believe him? Still, he did feel pretty proud that he took down a mutant or two himself.  
  
Panthro looked around, as if searching for something. "Now we'll have to go about seeing if we can survive in this place."   
  
"We will survive, Panthro, and we'll create a new empire here. I, Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats, proclaim it!" Lion-O announced, taking his time to lift the Sword of Omens upward, which projected the signal once more.   
  
The others exchanged amused looks and looked back at Lion-O.  
  
Lion-O, lowering the heavy sword, gave them a humble smile. "Uh, with your help of course.…"   
  
The ThunderCats let loose with a lengthy bout of laughter.  
  
"It appears that everything will turn out all right in the end, Snarf," Jaga said as he appeared, the other ThunderCats far behind him.  
  
"I *know* it will," Snarf stated confidently. "Rawr, I just have one complaint, though," he added.  
  
"Oh?" Jaga said with a brow raised in interest. "And what would that be?"  
  
"I couldn't join them in the battle and kick some sorry mutant tail," Snarf jokingly whined. "All I got to do was jump through Vultureman, and let me tell you, he's uglier on the inside than he is on the outside!"  
  
Jaga couldn't help but to laugh boisterously, and Snarf laughed right along with him as they slowly faded from view, revealing the still laughing ThunderCats silhouetted against the setting sun.**

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**The End?**

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